Europe has consistently been optimistic about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany and the EU.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors began their meeting in Vienna on Monday, September 10, and it should provide the perfect opportunity for a discussion about the potential military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme, especially following the recent discovery of an atomic archive in Tehran.

The Hamburg intelligence agency, which forms part of the German intelligence network, has issued a report about the Iranian Regime and its efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

This report contains yet more evidence from another German state that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers has not helped to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, as Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped.

On Monday, the Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader finally responded to the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

Ali Khamenei’s remarks came nearly four weeks after President Trump announced that the US would no longer be a party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and after European leaders were unable to offer the regime guarantees that US sanctions would not affect their trade relations.